For 4½ years, mayors took fancy to paver blocks, benches
Alone
Chandigarh, July 16
Development for successive mayors in the past four and a half years during the tenure of the present Municipal Corporation
(MC) has meant spending “lavishly” on laying paver blocks and
erecting benches in parks. For reasons best known to them, elected
representatives spent 33 per cent of the Mayor Development Fund (MDF)
during this period on providing just these two amenities while
ignoring other pressing needs of the city residents.

A kidnapping that wasn’t
Chandigarh, July 16
A call to the Chandigarh police control room informing that a girl had been kidnapped by three youths in an Endeavour car from a park in Sector 22 sent the police in a tizzy here this evening.

Admn’s ‘smart’ move
Chandigarh, July 16
Come August and the UT government’s education system will take a ‘smart’ turn with the first-ever smart government school built in Sector 53 opening its door to students.

The UT’s first “smart school” that is coming up at Sector 53 in Chandigarh.
Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Waste disposal remains headache
for residents
Chandigarh, July 16
In the absence of any authority to monitor garbage collectors in the city, residents continue to remain at the mercy of the latter who fleece people by charging their own rates.
People in every sector pay different monthly charges to garbage collectors, ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 50 with people residing on upper-floors having to pay more. If that’s not enough collecting garbage remains a major concern, as sanitation workers often do not come daily. Among the common problems prevalent in all the city sectors is garbage collection that is not managed by the municipal corporation, which leads to various problems that are ultimately faced by the residents.

Girls enjoy swings on the first day of the month of sawan at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Principals urged to help curb underage driving
Chandigarh, July 16
Senior police officials today held a series of meetings with various associations, including school principals, to sensitise them on security issues in the wake of recent bomb blasts in
Mumbai. In the first session, presided over by SSP (Traffic) HS Doon, at least 87 principals/head masters of prominent schools (both government and private) of Chandigarh besides Chanchal Singh,
DEO, Chandigarh, were in attendance.

Consumer panel rejects plea for higher compensation
Chandigarh, July 16
While upholding an order of the district consumer disputes redressal forum, the Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission maintained the complainant’s demand for higher compensation was devoid of any merit.

Residents sweat it out in humid weather
Chandigarh, July 16
The much-needed respite to the tricity residents from hot and humid conditions by monsoon showers yesterday turned out to be short lived as the day temperature again shot up in the region.

Medical profession has been robbed of humanism, says expert
Chandigarh, July 16
Literally expressing the feelings of the common man on the streets, Dr Farokh E
Udwadia, emeritus professor of medicine, Grant Medical College and JJ Group of Hospitals,
Mumbai, today said the medical profession was no more a noble profession as it had been robbed of humanism and sympathetic communication with patients.

Suicide of Businessman
Contractors too seek payment of dues from Surya Group
Chandigarh, July 16
With Rajiv Goyal, chairman and managing director of Surya Group of Institutes, Rajpura, being booked by the Panchkula police on the complaint of a builder for abetment of suicide, the builders and contractors to whom the director allegedly owes crores of rupees, held a press conference claiming that the director had blocked their payments too. They also held a candle light march in Panhckula seeking justice on Saturday.

Construction of Mansa Devi temple gate hangs fire
Panchkula, July 16
Even four years after the Haryana chief minister laid the foundation stone of the Mansa Devi Singhdwar on January 4, 2007, construction of the gate, scheduled to be completed within six months after work commenced, remains unfinished.A view of Mata Mansa Devi Singhdwar under construction at Panchkula. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

After muddy water, taps spout worms
Chandigarh, July 16
There seems to be no end in sight to the problem of filthy drinking water in various parts of the city, as things have only worsened since the outset of monsoon.

Worms found in the water supply at Kendriya Society, Sector 48, Chandigarh, on Saturday.
Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Mahindra and Mahindra dealer penalised
Mohali, July 16
The Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has penalised a Mohali-based dealer of Mahindra and Mahindra, Goel Motors, for selling Mahindra That jeep to Pardeep Gupta, a Sector 9 resident, without getting the model registered with the State Transport Authority (STA), Chandigarh.

AIEEE Joint Counselling
Civil engineering less preferred
Chandigarh, July 16
Despite a boom in the real estate sector and influx of leading companies promising better job opportunities, barely 7 per cent engineering aspirants filled up civil stream as their first choice for admission to the PEC University of Technology this year.

Police stops illegal construction
Dera Bassi, July 16
The Dera Bassi Municipal Council has stopped the construction work of a building, owned by former DMC president and Congress leader Amritpal Singh on Saturday evening. Municipal councillors had alleged that Amritpal was illegally constructing lintel on an old building situated on the forest land. They alleged that this land was of the forest department and inquiry was pending regarding this with the vigilance department.

Bassi Pathana Civil Hospital sans doctors
Bassi Pathana, July 16
Transfer of five doctors out of six has left the local civil hospital with just a senior medical officer (SMO) to treat the patients and now the patients are forced to get costly treatment from private hospitals.

Highway Robbery
7-year jail term for two
Chandigarh, July 16
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Preeti Sahni today convicted two persons in the 2009 Sector-33 robbery case, involving highway robbers, and handed down seven years of rigorous imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 8,000 on them.

10-yr RI for raping minor
Chandigarh, July 16
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge VP Sirohi today sentenced a Ram Darbar resident to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a four-year-old. The convict, Vijay Kumar, has also been imposed a fine of Rs 5000.

Immigration firm owner held for fraud
Chandigarh, July 16
The police has arrested Anu Bhattacharya, director of immigration company ACME Career World Pvt Ltd, Sector 34, in a case of fraud. The accused had allegedly duped nine persons of Rs 81 lakh on the pretext of sending them to Canada.

vehicle thefts
Insurance surveyors party to crime
Mohali, July 16
The notorious gang of interstate criminals busted recently by the Mohali police adopted more than one way of laying their hands on vehicles of their choice.

Man loses Rs 2 lakh over Rs 10 note
Chandigarh, July 16
A Sector-22 resident lost Rs 2 lakh to a con man who fooled his victim into believing that his Rs 10 note had fallen on the ground.